Major League Soccer on Tuesday announced the finalists for the 2015 end-of-season awards.
Headlining the awards, Sporting Kansas City midfielder Benny Feilhaber, Toronto FC midfielder Sebastian Giovinco and Columbus Crew SC forward Kei Kamara are in contention for the 2015 Landon Donovan MLS MVP award. Giovinco and Kamara are tied for having the most finalist selections in this year's field, two apiece, with the Italian international also in the running for MLS Newcomer of the Year and the former Sierra Leone international also a finalist for MLS WORKS Humanitarian of the Year presented by Advocare.
All eight teams still competing in the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs Conference Semifinals have at least one finalist. The head coaches of the top three teams in the overall standings – Jesse Marsch (New York Red Bulls), Oscar Pareja (FC Dallas) and Carl Robinson (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), respectively – are finalists for the MLS Coach of the Year award.
The winners of the respective awards will be announced in the coming weeks, on the days listed below.
The finalists for each award, listed in alphabetical order below, earned the most votes in polling of three voting groups:
- Current MLS players
- MLS clubs (coaches, technical directors, chief business officers, communications)
- Media members who covered MLS regularly in 2015
Full 2015 MLS Awards Finalists:
Landon Donovan MLS MVP (Announced Dec. 2):
- Benny Feilhaber (Sporting Kansas City)
- Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC)
- Kei Kamara (Columbus Crew SC)
MLS Coach of the Year (Announced Nov. 24):
- Jesse Marsch (New York Red Bulls)
- Oscar Pareja (FC Dallas)
- Carl Robinson (Vancouver Whitecaps)
MLS Newcomer of the Year (Announced Nov. 23):
- Didier Drogba (Montreal Impact)
- Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC)
- Mike Grella (New York Red Bulls)
Best player with previous professional experience who made his MLS debut in 2015.
Allstate MLS Goalkeeper of the Year (Announced Nov. 19):
- Bill Hamid (D.C. United)
- David Ousted (Vancouver Whitecaps)
- Luis Robles (New York Red Bulls)
MLS Comeback Player of the Year (Announced Nov. 18):
- Tim Melia (Sporting Kansas City)
- Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC)
- Diego Valeri (Portland Timbers)
Honors a player who has overcome injuries and/or adversity in order to achieve success during the 2015 regular season.
MLS Defender of the Year (Announced Nov. 11):
- Laurent Ciman (Montreal Impact)
- Matt Hedges (FC Dallas)
- Kendall Waston (Vancouver Whitecaps)
AT&T Rookie of the Year (Announced Nov. 10):
- Fatai Alashe (San Jose Earthquakes)
- Cyle Larin (Orlando City)
- Matt Polster (Chicago Fire)
Best player without previous professional experience who made his MLS debut in 2015.
MLS Fair Play Finalists – Individuals (Announced Nov. 6):
- Nat Borchers (Portland Timbers)
- Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers)
- Marvell Wynne (San Jose Earthquakes)
Selected by MLS based on objective criteria such as fouls committed, cards received, games & minutes played, as well as subjective evaluation of sportsmanlike behavior.
MLS Fair Play Finalists - Teams (Announced Nov. 6):
- LA Galaxy
- Philadelphia Union
- Seattle Sounders FC
Selected by MLS based on objective criteria such as fewest fouls committed, cards received, and on subjective evaluation of sportsmanlike behavior.
MLS Referee of the Year (Announced Nov. 6):
- Alan Kelly
- Jair Marrufo
- Baldomero Toledo
MLS Assistant Referee of the Year (Announced Nov. 6):
- George Gansner
- Peter Manikowski
- Corey Parker
MLS WORKS Humanitarian of the Year, presented by Advocare (Announced Nov. 5):
- Jeb Brovsky (New York City FC)
- Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders)
- Kei Kamara (Columbus Crew SC)
